Sūrat al-Māʿūn and Sūrat al-Kawthar
Observations on the structural relationship between Sūrat al-Māʿūn and Sūrat al-Kawthar
Sūrat al-Māʿūn (Small Kindnesses) and Sūrat al-Kawthar (The Abundance) are two very short suwar that occur sequentially in the Quran’s compiled order. They are the 107th and 108th suwar, respectively. When placed side-by-side, they seem to form a complementary pair.
The great Quranic exegete, Fakhr ad-Dīn ar-Rāzī observed that in Sūrat al-Māʿūn, four qualities are listed of “the one who denies the Recompense.”1
1. He is exceedingly miserly: “That is the one who pushes away the orphan and does not urge the feeding of the poor.”
2. He prays inattentively: “So woe to those who pray and are heedless in their prayer.”
3. He only prays to show off: “Those who are all show.”
4. He is unwilling to give even the smallest amount from his wealth or food: “And refuse small kindnesses.”
And Rāzī also noted that Sūrat Al-Kawthar mentions four exact opposite qualities in the same order:
1. Allah ﷻ is extremely giving: “Truly We have given you the Abundance.”
2. The Messenger ﷺ is commanded to pray: “So pray”
3. He ﷺ is commanded to do it sincerely: “to your Master,” which can also be translated as “for your Master.”
4. He ﷺ is commanded to sacrifice an animal, which involves expending money and giving out the meat of the animal to others: “and sacrifice.”
The final āyah of Sūrat al-Kawthar, (“Truly your enemy is the one who is cut off”), which has no counterpart in al-Māʿūn, is a perfect transition to the next sūrah of the Quran, Sūrat al-Kāfirūn (The Disbelievers). Summarized the two suwar appear as so:
And Allah ﷻ knows best.
Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb, ar-Rāzī, Sūrat al-Kawthar, https://tafsir.app/alrazi/108/1